From the Winter 2020 Issue

A Short History of Mac Malware

Author(s):

David Balaban, Editor, Privacy PC

Mac Malware

Do Mac viruses exist? In a nutshell, yes. Wondering why? Here’s the thing: lots of people refer to all forms of malicious code as viruses. Strictly speaking, this is a misconception because computer viruses are programs that exhibit self-replication capabilities. However, there is an aspect that blurs the categorization. Present-day malware can be modular, which … Read more

(In)Famous Hacking Groups

Author(s):

Caleb Townsend, Staff Writer, United States Cybersecurity Magazine

The Different Hacking Groups Hacking Groups are a staple of cybersecurity culture. Since the 1995 release of the movie Hackers, there has been a very specific subset of cultural cliches we associate with all hacking groups. However, some hacking groups aren’t youthful, energetic teenagers or lone wolfs. In fact, some groups are state sponsored, and … Read more

A Brief and Incomplete History of Cybersecurity

Author(s):

Caleb Townsend, Staff Writer, United States Cybersecurity Magazine

Cybersecurity History, evolved, evolution of man, blue men, computer, cyber

Many people assume that cybersecurity is a new vector, relatively starting within the last decade. However, cybersecurity history dates back to the seventies, before most people even had a computer. We have covered hacking incidents that took place before computers, but for the purposes of this article, our timeline starts in 1971, with an experiment. … Read more

Hacking Through History: Three People Who Hacked Without Computers

Author(s):

Caleb Townsend, Staff Writer, United States Cybersecurity Magazine

Hand clicking on Morse Code, Cybersecurity History, Early Hacking

People usually attribute the history of cybersecurity to the Creeper. The Creeper was an infamous program that acted as the first virus in history. This 1971 virus was distributed to mainframe computers and possessed to ability to move around. The program was not malicious in anyway. The Creeper did no damage.  It simply would display … Read more